Crazy Idea
by Bobbie23
Summary: Sort of an AU of Run, JJ is still getting married, but Emily isn't thinking of leaving. Emily and Penelope have brunch after shopping for their outfits. Originally a one shot, now two.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer – I don't own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.

Crazy Idea

The door of the diner jingled as the two women entered, one holding lots of shopping bags, while the other only held two. The red haired waitress behind the counter greeted them with a warm smile as they sat in a corner booth.

"I can't believe Rossi is springing a surprise wedding on Jayje," Penelope exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement as they picked up menus. "Do you think she'll kill him?"

"Only if she changes her mind. Besides it gives us excuse to shop; retail therapy goes a long way after our adventure yesterday," Emily said pointedly, and the blonde nodded in agreement smiling at the thought of the purchases.

"That dress looks amazing on you, Em. I'm going to have competition on the dance floor." Emily felt her cheeks getting warm.

"I don't think so," she shook her head. Before she could compliment Penelope on her choice of dress the waitress, Mary, made her way over to the booth.

"Okay Cher, what will it be today?" Her thick New Orleans accent resounding in the dinner as she directed her question at Emily.

"Um can I have the waffles with strawberries and orange juice please?"

Mary nodded as she wrote the order before turning to Penelope. "And you Sugar?"

"I'll have the same, but with peaches instead of strawberries, thanks."

Mary nodded again. "I'll be right back with your drinks," she told them before turning to Emily. "Where's tall, dark and handsome this weekend?"

Penelope's eyes snapped to Emily's face as the brunette avoided eye contact. "Um, change of plans this week."

"Shame, highlight of my Sunday is coming into work to see that smile," she said as she wondered off leaving Emily alone with the enquiring mind of Penelope Garcia, seeker of all things gossip. Emily held out as long as she could before Penelope reached across the table and tipped Emily's chin so she could get eye contact.

"Uh, who is the 'Tall, dark and handsome' the vivacious red head referring to?" Penelope's grin was wide as she launched into another question. "Are you dating someone?"

Emily rolled her eyes good naturedly. "No, she's talking about Morgan, we come here after we go to the shooting range on Sundays," she shrugged. No big deal. Only to Penelope it would be a big deal, and she would read more into it than most, something Emily didn't want.

"Every Sunday?" Penelope questioned.

"Yeah, since our take down requalification," Emily nodded. She could see more questions in her friends' eyes.

"What else are you guys up to outside of work?" And there it was.

"Sometimes we go see a movie afterwards; I sometimes go help him with the property he's working on." As soon as Morgan had heard of her plans to buy a house, he had started questioning her ability about fixing things around the house. From her answers, Morgan had been amused to find out she knew next to nothing, so after teasing her for a suitable length of time he had offered to teach her by getting her to work with him on his current restoration project. She had jokingly accused him of wanting free labour, while Morgan countered by saying he didn't want to be disturbed in the middle of the night because of broken water pipe, his eyes twinkling with laughter.

"You guys hang out a lot," Penelope said, and Emily inwardly winced at the tone. She hadn't wanted Penelope to get that impression of their relationship. It was a platonic friendship. Emily couldn't deny that there was another dimension to the tension between them since her return to the team. A spark that had once been slow burning, innocent flirting that was now tinged with deeper emotion. But Emily had thought it was entirely one sided. During her time in Paris her thoughts often drifted to the what ifs that surrounded her relationship with Derek. When he had clung to her in the conference room, Emily could feel the desperation, fear and apprehension that flowed from his body.

Mary approached their table again and placed the drinks in front of the women, Emily lifted the glass to take a sip. "Oh how was the date Cher?" She asked Emily. Penelope's eyes bulged with the new information, while Emily tried not to spill the orange juice.

"What date?" Penelope asked staring wide eyed at Emily.

"No date. I haven't been on a date," Emily said to her quickly before turning back to Mary. Emily was confused. She hadn't been on a date since long before Doyle returned to seek revenge against her. "What date?" She asked the waitress.

"I couldn't help but overhear you and Handsome discussing it last week. Would've won me a hundred bucks from the rest of the Sunday staff, to hear you two were going on a date, but they said I gotta get proof before they pay up."

Immediately, Emily realised what Mary was referring to. Avoiding Penelope's smirk, Emily could only imagine what was going through her friend's mind at the moment. "Um, it wasn't a date, sorry. And it didn't happen; we were called into work yesterday. We're just friends, that's all."

Mary shrugged. "If I were thirty years younger, that man wouldn't be just a friend," she said wondering back to the counter to serve another customer. Emily sat studying a bead of condensation sliding down her glass to avoid looking at Penelope.

"You guys were going on a date? When?" Penelope questioned with a quirk of an eyebrow.

"It wasn't a date. I was taking him to dinner as a thank you for helping me with the inspection of the house." Emily paused. "I mean it's not like we haven't been out to dinner before."

"Just the two of you?" Penelope asked, a wide grin gracing her face.

Emily rolled her eyes. "A few times after we go see a movie, or maybe takeout if we are at one of our apartments."

Penelope's eyes clouded over for a moment, while she tried to work something out. When she saw Emily watching her intently, she started to apologise. "I'm sorry, just trying to get my head around it. With the amount of time you guys are spending together outside of work and the 'coupley' things you're doing, to anyone who doesn't know you like I do it sounds like you're dating each other."

Emily couldn't help the laugh that escaped her at the idea. "Dating? Me and Morgan? There are regulations, do you have any idea what would happen to our careers, to the team?" She asked.

Penelope turned thoughtful for a moment, before responding as she leant in. "But what if the regulations didn't matter? Would you go on a date with Morgan?" She asked gently.

Emily mulled over Penelope's words. While it was true that they spent a lot of time together outside of work, it was because they were trying get back their friendship from before she left. She was quiet for a little too long as she thought over the situation. She shook her head, trying to banish the thoughts that were going through her head. "Garcia, we're just friends who hang out, like I hang out with you or JJ. It's a crazy idea."

"Really? You two have been hanging out like that for months, and none of us knew. Is it such a crazy idea to date Morgan? He's hot, carries a gun, and works the same schedule. That's your type." Penelope's eyes lit up as she made the connection, the idea settling in her head. Emily groaned at her friend, her head tipping back briefly as she gave a silent plea to whatever deity that would listen to help her through this conversation.

"We were just going to dinner, and that's all. And it got cancelled because we were all called into work yesterday. Would you just drop it please? Besides, yesterday you were going to the Doctor Who convention with Reid; you don't hear me asking if you're dating him," Emily couldn't help the sharp tone; it was overwhelming. She hated being the centre of attention.

"But I don't check Reid's butt out like you do Morgan's." Penelope countered, and Emily's eyes widened as she felt her face heat up. "Don't worry I only know you do it because I do it too. A lot." Emily smiled at the dreamy look that came over her friends face.

"I'll agree that he has a nice butt," Emily conceded. Penelope sputtered in disbelief at her friends' statement.

"Nice? Just nice? It's magnificent," Penelope whispered wistfully. Emily couldn't help but laugh at her friend.

"Seriously Pen, can we just drop it, please?"

"One more question first," Penelope waited for Emily to agree, which she did reluctantly. "Seeing as you guys never made it to dinner, are you going to reschedule?"

….

It was the early hours of Monday morning when Emily walked up the steps to her apartment building, Morgan following close behind as she unlocked the front door. At the end of the wonderful evening, Morgan had done the gentlemanly thing and insisted that he make sure Emily got home safely, seeing as he lived nearest to her. Spencer, who lived closest to Penelope, had said he would get her home. She closed the door as he wandered through to her living room.

"Coffee?" Emily asked as she placed her shawl and bag on the coat rack.

"No decaf," he said, following her into the kitchen as she flipped the switch on the kettle. She threw him a smirk over her shoulder as she reached for the decaf. When a horrified expression came over his face she reached for the regular coffee. "So do you know why Garcia was smirking at us when we were dancing?" Emily closed her eyes at the question. She could still feel him pressed against her as he held her close, could still feel the rhythm of his heartbeat against hers. Over his shoulder, Emily had seen Penelope looking at them while she danced with Kevin, a smile playing on her lips.

She opened her eyes, and filled the cups with the hot water. Emily turned to pass him his cup of coffee; he was leaning against the opposite work top. "It's nothing," she sighed. "We went shopping today and afterwards we went to the diner that you and I go to on Sundays. Mary asked how our 'date' was." The last part came out in a rush, and Morgan was confused.

"Date?"

Emily took a deep breath, studying her cup instead of looking at him. "Mary overheard us talking about dinner last week. Apparently, the members of staff there have a bet going as to when you and I are going to go on a date. Crazy idea, right?" She gave a short laugh before blowing on her coffee. Emily hoped it wouldn't make Morgan uncomfortable. She raised her eyes slowing to his, to gage his reaction.

"Is it such a crazy idea?" He asked.


	2. Chapter 2

Author Note – I was going to leave it for all of you imagine your perfect date for them, but seeing as there was such a high demand for a second chapter… and because people asked so nicely, I'm in the middle of my Derek/Emily CM marathon with my laptop open x

Crazy Idea – chapter two

There was a pile of clothes on her bed from where she had been trying to decide what to wear. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a small bulge appear, heard a meow, and Sergio's head popped out from underneath a dress that she had discarded. Emily smiled at her cat before rescuing him from the clothes. He squirmed out of her grasp and scurried out of the room to seek the peaceful solace of the living room.

Three weeks ago she and Garcia had brunch, JJ had married Will, and while Emily had spent the evening dancing with her friends, her main dancing partner for the evening had been Morgan. Three weeks ago Morgan had convinced her to make their dinner a proper date. He had fought her reluctance and had been quite persuasive.

She felt her body tingle at thought of that night after they had arrived back at her apartment.

"_Is it such a crazy idea?" He asked._

_Their eyes locked and she could see the guarded apprehension in them as he put his heart on the line. He was braver than she was. There was so much at stake. Unable to withstand his intense stare Emily looked away. _

"_Morgan, it's not that simple," she told him as she turned towards the counter to reach for the sugar. _

"_You didn't say no," Morgan's voice was soft and gentle, and Emily couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spin. Her heart was thundering in her chest._

"_What about the team?" Emily asked hesitantly._

"_Do you think I would be willing to throw that away if there wasn't more to this?" Emily closed her eyes, her hands had a tight grip on the counter top. "More to us?" Emily heard his uncertainty in his voice waiting for a sign from her. _

_But she wasn't able to put a voice to her emotions. Was this worth the risk? They had been closer than ever since Emily had returned to the team. The more time they spent together, the line between them became blurred. She hadn't realised it until Penelope had started questioning the amount of time they spent together outside of work. The realisation had hit her like a ton of bricks with the emotions that it evoked in her. She had been fighting them for a long time. _

"_Em?" his voice broke threw her thoughts. Emily felt him talking to her from over her shoulder. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't heard him move closer. His hands moved gently as he placed them on her waist to spin her round to face him. "Give it a chance Em. It's just a date, no pressure I promise."_

_Emily opened her eyes and found herself staring into his deep brown pools. Taking a deep breath she began to speak. "I didn't say no," Emily whispered. Immediately she saw the relief wash over Morgan as he gave her a small smile._

"_So it's a yes?" Their eyes held for a beat before she nodded._

"_Yes," Emily returned his small smile. "Something's are worth the risk," she whispered. _

_They had continued to stare at one another and the tension in the room had become palpable. She could feel electric pulsing from the hands that still held her waist, but she didn't shake them off. In fact, Emily shifted closer to him as he bent his face slowly towards hers. _

Emily stood in front of her wardrobe as she tried to shake the memories of that night from her brain. She never got the chance to find out if he was going to kiss her because Sergio had made his presence known by knocking over the coffee jar behind her. They had sprung apart and after clearing up the mess, they drank their coffee, making small talk. He had left a short while later, placing a kiss on her cheek as she walked him to the door. Morgan's hand lingered on her other cheek as he looked at her with longing, which Emily was sure was reflected in her own eyes. Emily felt a twinge of disappointment when he had left her apartment. She had wanted him to kiss her.

They had back to back cases for the three weeks since, so had been unable to schedule their date. Till tonight. Penelope had been unusually quiet about the whole thing; Emily didn't know whether or not to be relieved. While Penelope could go over the top with things, Emily knew deep down it was out of love and Emily would have liked to have someone to talk her fears through with. It had been a long three weeks, full of meaningful glances.

They had been so busy; Emily and Morgan had no time to talk over what had happened in her apartment, there hadn't been appropriate moment to talk about rescheduling. When Hotch had announced they had the weekend off of rotation, they had all but fled the bullpen. Emily had been about to get into her car when Morgan caught up to her and lightly tapped her shoulder making her jump. He had held up his hand in front of him, to show that he wasn't a threat.

"_What were you thinking, sneaking up on me like that?" Emily asked him as she tried to get her breathing under control. _

"_Sorry," he apologised. He stumbled over his words as he continued. "I, uh, was wondering if…I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner tomorrow night, reschedule like we arranged." Morgan's voice was low as he looked around them to see if anyone was paying attention to them, but the car park was deserted. _

"_Sounds good," Emily told him. "How about the Italian place on 4__th__? I'll meet you there at eight." He shook his head, and Emily was confused. _

"_I'll pick you up. It's a date remember?" Morgan gave her his usual charm smile as she nodded. They stood there looking at one another and they shifted closer. When they were within touching distance a car engine started and they sprung apart. As Emily's darted around the car park to find the offending noise she heard the car driving down the ramp from the level above. Morgan's deep laugh echoed through the car park, causing Emily to look back at him. "We're gonna have to get better on our timing huh?" He began to walk to his car. "I'll see you tomorrow night Em."_

Morgan was due to pick her up in twenty minutes and Emily was still deciding what to wear. She wanted tonight to happen, she had barely thought of anything else since Penelope had started questioning her a few weeks ago.

Peeking out from between her clothes, she saw a turquoise sleeve. Dividing the clothes with her hands she looked at the wrap round dress. It looked good on her. Pulling it from the hanger, Emily slipped it on, fastening the black tie on her hip. She put on her black heels and a snug black cardigan. Her make-up and hair had been done before she started looking for something to wear.

A knock sounded through the apartment as Emily took one last look at her reflection in the mirror. As she opened her front door, Emily saw the nervousness in his eyes.

"Hi," Morgan said, and Emily held back a chuckle as they stood staring at each other for a few moments. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," she managed to breathe out. Emily waved him in behind her as she went to find her purse. Emily turned around to find Morgan standing in the doorway of the living room. As they locked eyes, they both gave a nervous chuckle. "Why are we so nervous? It's not like we haven't been to dinner before." Emily took little comfort in the fact he was affected as much as she was.

"Because, this means more than it has before," he told her. "I know I said no pressure, but I'm not going to lie to you and tell you I have no feelings for you. First and foremost, you are my friend. That alone makes this more important than any other date I have ever had; I'm under a lot of pressure here not to screw up one of the closest friendships I have ever had." Emily swallowed the lump that formed in her throat.

"We both are," she said, finally finding her voice. "How about we go to dinner, and see what happens?" Morgan nodded giving her a small smile, more relaxed than he was a few moments ago.

He led the way out of the apartment and waited while she locked up. There was a comfortable silence as they drove to the restaurant. It was quiet for a Saturday night, but then it wasn't near the city centre. The food was terrific, but never crowded. The type of place you wouldn't realise was there unless you went looking for it. The waiter greeted them and sat them at an intimate table on the raised platform at the back of the restaurant, just hidden by one of the protruding wall dividers. Soft music was playing in the background, candlelight flickering and fairy lights adorned the naked brick walls.

"Are you going to start searching for another house?" Morgan asked as they looked at the menus.

Emily shook her head. "No, I was so nervous about the last one I was quite relieved when it fell through. I'm going to keep renting for a while before starting to look again."

After that conversation flowed freely between them and they continued their meal talking and laughing at each other's jokes, all the while leaning further into one another. They talked late into the night, their usual banter taking over as they became more relaxed during the evening. Neither of them realised how late it was until some of the waiters began putting the chairs up on the other tables. They were the only customers left in the restaurant. Morgan gave the waiter a guilty look as he signalled for the bill. After paying the bill they left the restaurant. As they walked towards Morgan's car, Emily's arm, shoulder down to fingertips, brushed with his. She felt his fingers twitch hesitantly before they curled around hers. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Morgan smile when she didn't pull away.

As they reached his car, Morgan went to open the door for her, but Emily pushed herself against it keeping it shut, standing in between him and the car. She saw him swallow nervously as he took a small step towards her. Emily's hands lightly held the lapels of his jacket.

"So, uh, was it a crazy idea?" Morgan asked her. His aftershave filled her senses as he leant a bit closer.

Emily shook her head. It had been a lovely evening, one she hoped to repeat. "No, it wasn't. I had a great time, wasn't much different from when we've been out before."

"There is one thing I would like to do that is different." Morgan bent his head slowly so Emily could stop him or push him away if she wanted to. But she didn't, she leant up towards him as she tightened her grip on his jacket and she pulled him closer. Their lips met softly with a gentle pressure. Morgan's hand touched her shoulders and he ran them down to her waist to pull her closer to him as the kiss deepened. Emily moaned quietly as Morgan pulled away. "I want to do that again," he whispered.

Emily bit her lip as she nodded her agreement. "Good," she told him and mirrored the smile that he gave her.

"We can take this slow," he paused. "I don't want to ruin this by rushing in." Again she nodded; the last thing she wanted was to lose him by going too fast.

Morgan reached behind her to open the car door for her. He drove her home and walked her to her door. Once there, Morgan bent to place a chaste kiss on her cheek, but Emily turned her head at the last moment and their lips met again. Emily pulled back first this time. "Good night Morgan," she smiled as she opened her door and took a step inside. Emily turned back to look at him.

"Good night Emily, I'll see you in the morning."

…

On Monday morning, Penelope was turning on her screens when she saw the takeout box on her desk. She smiled as she read the small note attached.

'_Courtesy of Mary, she won the bet x'_

Penelope opened the box to find waffles and peaches.


End file.
